


and it's not much (but my money's on you)

by serenitysea



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Humor, Interviews, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:09:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3391211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>or: <i>the one where skye doesn't join the team and grant ward has a fairly decent reputation among his colleagues and various bosses.</i> </p><p>"Oh, you mean <i>Agent Toolbag</i>?" Skye can barely hold back her disdain. "That guy wouldn't know how to have a good time if it walked up to him and climbed him like a tree." She scoffs. "What an asshole."</p>
            </blockquote>





	and it's not much (but my money's on you)

**Author's Note:**

> \+ i don't know what to say here except maybe don't eat or drink while reading this???

_oh someone taught_  
_your walls to talk_  
_but if they ask me_  
_i ain't heard a thing_

 

* * *

 

 Agent Grant Ward of SHIELD meets Rising Tide Hacktivist Skye when he yanks her out of a van somewhere on the streets of California. A surprisingly _not dead_ Level Seven Agent Phillip Coulson is present for the abduction and subsequent interrogation.

Details are exchanged, an offer is made (and declined) and Skye goes on her way.

Mike Petersen dies.

(No one really knows why.)

*

"If you walk away from this, you don't get a second chance." Ward looms over her, a hand slapped against the wall next to her head.

Skye lifts her chin defiantly and barely keeps from rolling her eyes. "Who says I _want_ a second chance?"

"You'll never know the truth," Ward cautions, trying to play Devil's Advocate.

(In that instant, Skye regrets telling him about her search for her parents in a moment of weakness.)

"I can live with that," She steps forward, boldly forcing their bodies into the kind of alignment that does _very_ interesting things for the tension between them. There is no small satisfaction when his eyes darken and lower. "The question is: _can you?_ "

*

Still bearing the red marks of the handcuffs around her wrists (during the last known sighting of the hacktivist):

"Oh, you mean _Agent_ _Toolbag_?" Skye can barely hold back her disdain. "That guy wouldn't know how to have a good time if it walked up to him and climbed him like a tree." She scoffs. "What an asshole."

*

Phil Coulson has been in command of the Bus for two years strong and has nothing bad to say about his Level Six Specialist.

"Agent Ward? Best marks since Romanoff. His people skills could use a little work."

(Well. _Almost_ nothing bad.)

*

Nothing further is ever heard from Skye.

She vanishes into the sea of people at the train station and is never seen again.

(Someone said there was a rumor of a girl in a pink dress at Ian Quinn's party from his private mansion in Malta. That she'd literally set the entire place on fire.)

(When Coulson arrives with his team, there is only a heavily locked case of Gravitonium sitting next to a pile of ash.)

Skye left the Bus wearing a plaid shirt several sizes too large and a weird trucker hat she claimed belonged to an old boyfriend.

Pink dresses aren't really her style.

*

When Hacktivist Miles Lydon is questioned:

"Agent Grant Ward? That guy goes around stealing other people's girlfriends." Miles scowls bitterly. "What a douche."

(No one listens to Miles.)

*

The Asgardian berserker staff is contained before it ever reaches the group of fanatics that hope to uncover its power. Coulson and his team work closely with a professor Randoph based out of Seville who happens to know more than meets the eye when it comes to Norse artifacts.

"It's really fortunate that no one touched this," Randolph explains, handling the pieces with thick black rubber gloves. "The effects can last for years, sometimes decades." He pauses after locking the pieces up and cataloguing them rather meticulously. "Where did you say you received the tip to locate it?"

"We didn't," Ward steps forward, taking the briefcase with the beserker staff crated inside. He smiles tightly. "Have a nice day."

*

If you ask the biochemist and engineer what they think of their workmate:

"Agent Ward? Oh, he does his job and always turns in his reports on time. Never needs more than a stitch or two. He's very careful."

"Probably has a wife stashed away somewhere," Fitz murmurs, inspecting a slide under the microscope.

"Well, he's certainly attractive enough," Jemma nods in agreement.

" _Simmons_!" Fitz says, outraged, and shoots her a dirty look.

"He _is_ ," she insists, firm in her assessment. "Have you _seen_ his abdominal musculature?"

"I —" Fitz splutters incoherently and returns to his work, muttering under his breath about stupidly tall specialists and their ridiculous waist to shoulder ratio.

*

There is a blip of security at the Hub when they take the Bus in for its annual repairs.

Nothing is really mentioned about the epic fail (which will later be referred to as the _Hub Blackout of 2014_ or, _that time when classes were canceled for two days because a cyberterrorist attack was suspected_ ) where the entire server room goes dark and the power shorts out for a total of forty seven seconds before the backup _backup_ generators kick in.

When questioned why the generators did not come online sooner or how the security could have been compromised in the first place, none of SHIELD's biggest and brightest have any idea.

There's a rumor that Tony Stark himself is asked to take a look at things.

("Jesus." Stark whistles through his teeth. "That virus is a thing of beauty. You ever find out who did this, give them my number.")

But everyone knows Director Fury can't _stand_ Tony Stark and his _over the top_ posturing.

So that never happened.

 _Obviously_.

*

The only person left who really has any kind of information on the shadowy individual that is Grant Douglas Ward is another Level Six specialist by the name of Antoine Triplett.

"Ward?" Trip pauses in his workout, setting aside the absurdly heavy weights with ease. "Solid partner. Always trusted him to watch my back. Called me his best man once. No complaints."

You can't argue with a man like Trip.

He pretty much _bleeds_ sincerity.

*

John Garrett suffers an epic malfunction of his CyberTek prosthetics while in the field on a search for GH-325.

(No one really knows what happens.)

He dies because the cybernetics grafted to his organs go haywire and — for lack of a better word — _mutiny_. In a strange sort of irony, the only cure to fix him is but a few feet away.

(There may or may not be a moment where Ward averts his gaze at the sight of his former Supervising Officer heaving his last breath.)

(That might be why no one sees the micro smile of relief on his face or the light in his eyes.)

*

"I'd like to request my three weeks leave, sir." Ward hands over the appropriate forms and stands at military rest in front of his Commanding Officer. "I've finished up my reports and ensured that Agent Triplett will fill in during my absence."

"We always hate to lose you," Coulson says, as he dutifully signs off on the forms in triplicate and hands back the copy Ward will need to file with HQ. "But you've earned the time off. Enjoy yourself."

"Thank you, Sir." A rare smile breaks across Ward's face. "I thoroughly intend to."

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

He slips into bed and allows a sigh of relief. It takes but a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. There is a _snickt_ of a match being struck and the quiet hiss of a candle finally lit. He draws close to the bed where a beautiful woman is blissfully sprawled out.

"Hey gorgeous," Ward drawls, allowing his eyes to roam her body.

"Careful, handsome." She doesn't tug the sheet up higher, seemingly at ease despite the unusual situation. "My husband is due home any second now and I don't think he'd like finding you in his bed."

"Oh," he lunges forward to lace their hands together and pin them above her head, the glint of a wedding band flashing in the light. "I think he'll make an exception."

"Well in that case," Skye murmurs, tilting her head up for his kiss. "Welcome home, Agent Ward."  

"Best wife ever," Ward says, grinning.

"Damn straight." While he makes quick (and creative) work of the clothing impeding their inevitable reunion, Skye lifts an eyebrow. "How did the Vienna mission go?"  

"No work talk in bed." He loftily reminds her, flipping their positions so that she is now straddling him.

"Guess you'll have to," Skye leans forward to let her hair curtain around their faces, "Persuade me."

"It would be my genuine pleasure."

*

There is a picture illuminated by the moon propped up on the nightstand:

Ward looks _almost_ respectable in a black suit and tie. To his side is Skye, looking resplendent in a white lace dress. Ace Petersen grins widely from where he is perched between them. In military dress blues, Antoine Triplett stands as Best Man.

(The man who marries them has an eye patch.)

(No one asks why.)

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> \+ HAHAHAHAHAH YOU GUYS ALL THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE ANGST CITY  
> \+ [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com)  
> \+ title and lyrics from dixon's girl by dessa. (HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU GIVE IT A LISTEN.)
> 
> \+ also there’s a lot of blink and you’ll miss it stuff. things to be aware of:
> 
> \- skye’s wrists being red after leaving the AHEM interrogation with ward. she doesn’t say CLIMB HIM LIKE A TREE FOR NO REASON, PEOPLE  
> \- TRIP DIDN’T LIE because TRIP NEVER LIES  
> \- the hub blackout is OBVIOUSLY the work of a master hacker who is OBVIOUSLY known by one director of shield who THEN GOES to marry said master hacker


End file.
